Back in 1992, Wendy’s founder Dave Thomas created the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption (DTFA), a nonprofit embracing a laser-like commitment to driving adoption awareness and increasing the adoption of children from America’s foster care system.
This past March, Wendy’s placed adoption and its...

Upholstered booths, a brighter color palette, a clean layout, carefully curated radio stations. These may all be components of an average restaurant redesign, but there’s more to them than meets the eye. In fact, design changes like these are often made with strategic and subtle purposes in mind....

While fast-casual giant Chipotle has grown to more than 1,000 locations in the past two decades, another fast-casual chain that also started in Denver around the same time has seen quieter growth.
Like Chipotle, the 29-unit Tokyo Joe’s serves natural meats and mostly organic veggies, focusing on...

Stories surrounding food-borne illness outbreaks in national quick-service restaurant chains have become very common, with many national brands having suffered at least one major food-borne illness outbreak. Whether the cause of the outbreak is due to contaminated food or unclean surfaces, food...

Picture this: You’re trying to decide where to go for dinner. You’re stuck between two new restaurants. One has a line out the door; the other looks deserted. Which do you choose?
Chances are, unless you’re in a rush, you pick the one with the line out the door. If that many people like it, it must...

After visiting numerous Peruvian rotisserie chicken places with his wife, a Peru native, Randy Garcia had an idea: He wanted to combine the feel of the restaurants he’d seen throughout Peru with a modern, fast-casual format. That idea came to fruition when he opened Viva Chicken in Charlotte, North...

If you want to get a group of barbecue fanatics all fired up, just try using the words grilling and barbecuing interchangeably.
Barbecuing is a slow-cooking technique; smoking a pork shoulder for hours over wood chips would qualify. Grilling, on the other hand—as any purist will tell you—is the act...

Restaurant brands are turning to daypart expansion as they seek new growth channels, with many operators zeroing in on breakfast, the fastest growing daypart, according to The NPD Group. But with all of the opportunities a new daypart offers, it also brings with it operational challenges like added...

In honor of Whataburger's 30th anniversary of its popular Fancy Ketchup cups, Whataburger is hosting a #FancySKETCHUP event on Twitter, where Whataburger fans can have their self-portrait drawn using none other than Whataburger's Fancy Ketchup. For a chance to participate, fans must tweet @...

Alghanim Industries and The Wendy’s Company announced today the signing of a Master Franchise Agreement aimed at expanding the Wendy’s brand in the Middle East. This deal reinforces Alghanim Industries’ strategy to partner with international food and beverage franchises and build on the company’...

With the opening of Modmarket Preston Hollow Village, there are now three farm-fresh eateries in the Dallas area and 12 across Colorado and Texas. The newest location joins Modmarket Flower Mound (opened September 2014) and Modmarket Plano (opened October 2014) in Texas.

The Food Business School (FBS), the new center for executive and graduate education of The Culinary Institute of America, today opened registration for its Spring 2015 session and announced a suite of innovative educational programs taught by expert faculty. The first business school dedicated...

Tropical Smoothie Café introduces a new LTO line of hand-crafted artisan tacos, as well as a smoothie packed with wholesome ingredients. The new products can be enjoyed February 24 through April 26 to offer fans unique food and smoothie options for the beginning of spring.

While the fast-casual category continues to be the fastest-growing industry sector, the road in 2015 will be bumpy. We will see constant change and challenges around every corner. For industry leaders, there are issues that will keep even the most seasoned executive awake at night.
Here is my top...

Though U.S. consumption is well below other proteins today, seafood will likely be an increasingly important part of the American diet in the years to come. The country’s population is predicted to grow by 89 million between 2010 and 2050 to 401 million people. More people require more food—and...

When Lori Newcomb found out she had stage III ovarian cancer last year, she made it her mission to learn more about the disease and help other women fighting the same battle. She sat down with her husband, Chris Newcomb, cofounder and CEO of Southern quick-service chain Newk’s Eatery, and together...

Kevin Kester’s family has been farming in the U.S. for generations. And it’s not just a couple of generations they’ve been farming; more like generations upon generations, way back to the 1600s, specifically in California since the 1860s. Today, Kester owns a 22,000-acre beef cattle ranch in...

When fast-casual chain Zoës Kitchen Inc. debuted on the New York Stock Exchange last April, the Plano, Texas–based Mediterranean-style eatery recorded its initial public offering at $87.5 million. Satisfying an investor appetite for investments within the trendy fast-casual space, Zoës’ strong...

Convenience stores are increasingly taking a larger slice out of the quick-serve pie with fresh food offerings. It’s become such a lucrative business for C-stores that Sheetz, the Pennsylvania-based C-store chain that this week opened its 500th location, is planning stores designed more as fast...